Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has recorded a record-breaking number of individuals arrested without criminal records in July, surpassing 800 per day, according to new federal data released by the Department of Homeland Security. This significant increase, a 38% rise compared to the same period last year, comes as the White House has pledged to hit a target of 2,000 per day for immigration enforcement.
The data reveals a substantial shift in ICE’s strategy, moving away from traditional criminal prosecution and focusing primarily on arrests for civil immigration violations – such as violations of immigration laws rather than pending criminal charges or convictions – which comprise more than half of those apprehended. An average of over 1,580 people were arrested each day in July, a new high for the current administration, according to the data.
This surge is attributed to a combination of factors. The White House’s push to increase enforcement efforts, spearheaded by Administrator Tom Homan, has intensified the agency’s focus on ‘the worst of the worst’ – individuals with civil immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security’s operation in Minneapolis, a funding standoff and a shake-up in DHS leadership, contributed to this trend. However, the data also highlights a concerning trend – rising arrest totals are disproportionately concentrated in communities, with a 27% increase in street arrests compared to the previous six months, and a 50% increase in arrests everywhere else. CBS News reached out to DHS to obtain the data, which was obtained from ICE by the Deportation Data Project, a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA.
The agency’s focus on arrests for civil violations, often involving immigration violations, is a departure from previous practices. While ICE emphasizes that enforcement is based on the law written, it has stated that the targeting of individuals with criminal convictions is a focus, and that many of the individuals counted as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters, and more.
The data shows that ICE agents are not solely targeting areas deemed ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ – cities and states that require local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE. In Florida, where state law mandates local law enforcement cooperation, federal agents made almost four times as many street arrests in June and July compared to the previous six months. Similar increases were observed in Texas and other states, with El Paso and Austin seeing triple-digit increases in arrests.
The data also points to a substantial increase in arrests for 287(g) agreements, which allow local law enforcement to make immigration-related arrests without being labeled as such. The agency has 287(g) agreements with over 1,850 cities, counties, and states, growing each month as DHS seeks to expand the program.
The increase in arrests has been without highly publicized city-focused crackdowns, with agents instead turning to traffic stops, airport arrests, and immigration check-ins. The killing of two immigrants by federal agents in Maine and Texas during attempted traffic stops reignited concerns about the agency’s approach.
At least 45,300 ICE arrests in June and July, nearly half of all arrests for those two months, were made in communities rather than in jails or prisons. About 12,700 more came from what are known as 287(g) agreements, in which local law enforcement officials are empowered to make immigration-related arrests. The agency has 287(g) agreements with more than 1,850 city, county and state agencies. ICE has stated that it is working to expand the program, allotting $1.15 billion toward it through September 2027.
Watch Related Video
Source: CBS News
